'73-87 Flat Bed from OEM Fleetside floor?

[1x1_Speed_Craig]

Question...

Has anyone ever built a flatbed for their square body using the OEM bed floor as a basis for the flatbed? I have a rust-free bed from my military M1028 CUCV (see my CUCV/'C10 build HERE), but a 112-mph wind event this week knocked my bed off some concrete blocks, and folded the passenger side underneath. It actually rolled the bed...crazy winds, but not abnormal for our area here in East Tennessee.

As I look at bed options for my rat-rod-of-sorts C10/CUCV project, I wondered about disassembling the bed, and using the rust-free bed floor as a basis for a flatbed of some sort. The upside of the M1028 model is that it carried a communications shelter with its own independent floor, so the floor of the bed is also pretty straight...not a lot of dents from hard use.

On a positive note, my '86 C10 chassis has dual tanks, and I needed to figure out a passenger-side fuel filler solution anyway.

I've been welding/fabricating for a couple decades, so I'm not scared of doing the fab work myself (I quite enjoy it).

Craig

The M1028 bed after our wind event:

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The rest of the truck, as it currently sits:

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[CalSgt]

Don’t flatbeds usually sit entirely above the tires?

For the bed floor and wheel wells to be converted to run a different bedside it would need to have rather tall sides this not being a flatbed.

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[1x1_Speed_Craig]

Perhaps "flatbed" was the wrong term. I'd be building a custom bed with shorter-than-stock sides, and modular storage options. The truck will be an open-air, 2WD cruiser for around-town driving and errands.

The emphasis will be on keeping the weight of the truck light (stock 305 engine powering it), and minimizing the extent of custom fabrication. A tube bed would be overkill, and heavier/more complex than what I need.

 

[1x1_Speed_Craig]

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[Ricko1966]

If you're looking to do something like that,I'd consider just finishing the sides where there rolled under and adding flatbed style bed underboxes. Problem there is ,no room unless you go with a center mounted tank.

 

[Strick]

I used a CUCV floor for the homemade stepside bed on my 55 2nd Series. Flatties do ride higher than a conventional bed but when doing a rat I say build it how you want.

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